How Mike Johnson can save his job from 'chaos, dysfunction' and Marjorie Taylor Greene: columnist

26 March 2024

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is in danger of not just losing his job in the next election, but perhaps before that if Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate him is successful. One columnist is arguing that Johnson needs to embrace an unorthodox strategy if he hopes to keep the gavel amid a far-right uprising.

In a Tuesday op-ed for Bloomberg, columnist Patricia Lopez wrote that Johnson's desire to keep the government open amid protests from the far-right House Freedom Caucus has shown he has unexpected allies not just from more institutional Republicans, but from a fair number of House Democrats as well. Lopez argued that Johnson should not only lean into this coalition to do the work of governing, but to also not be afraid to strike back at the most extreme elements within his party.

"[Johnson's] power— and his only job protection— lies in bypassing the extremists in his party’s Freedom Caucus trying to control him," Lopez wrote. "It’s how Johnson succeeded in getting the $1.2 trillion spending bill passed that averted a government shutdown at the last minute and could be the key to getting desperately needed aid to Ukraine."

Johnson notably got more Democratic support for the $1.2 trillion government funding bill that passed the House last week than from his own party. As they've previously stated with other appropriations bills, the House Freedom Caucus — which makes up 42 members of the House Republican Conference — was upset with Johnson for not pushing draconian cuts to government programs, and not advocating for their $1 proposed salaries of President Joe Biden's cabinet members and staff (Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre were both targeted by the Freedom Caucus budget).

"Their power is amplified by their insistence on treating Trump like some kind of president-in-exile whose commands are to be obeyed," Lopez wrote of the Freedom Caucus. "[W]hether it’s a rejection of a border bill that read like a wish list of GOP goals or a demand to impeach Biden or others, such as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas."

Lopez argued that with the sudden exits of former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colorado) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) — the latter of whom is leaving the House next month — Johnson's speakership may be on borrowed time. She wrote that Johnson could cement his legacy as an arch-conservative speaker significantly to the right of his predecessor, but still able to govern in spite of fringe elements attempting to undermine him.

The House recently gaveled out for a recess this weekend and is due to return in roughly two weeks. While Congress managed to get a spending bill passed and signed by Biden before a shutdown could wreak havoc on federal agencies, it has yet to approve another package of aid for Ukraine's war against Russia's invasion. Lopez wrote that even if Johnson has a paper-thin majority, he could still make a significant impact by using his position to prevent a catastrophe in Ukraine.

"Johnson is a Trump ally, it’s true. But without compromise, he and his majority will be neutered. History can remember him as a puppet, whose six-month reign was marked by chaos, dysfunction and ended prematurely by the likes of Greene. Or he can reach deeper, exercise the significant powers of his role, and pass a border bill and the aid for Ukraine that he and a number of his conference already support," she wrote.

"That’s not selling out. It’s standing up," she added.

Click here to read Lopez's column in full (subscription required).

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